


A Man Like This

by Catw00man



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canon Compliant, Community: fma_fic_contest, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 19:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catw00man/pseuds/Catw00man
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes people see what they want to see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Man Like This

**Author's Note:**

> This story is Riza's point of view during Roy's fight with Lust in the Brotherhood Episode: Death of the Undying. I have always loved her devotion to Roy because I think it goes so much deeper than anything romantic ever could. This was my first attempt to capture that. Yes, this is another old fic. ;-)
> 
> Written for the [fma_fic_contest](http://fma-fic-contest.livejournal.com) for the prompt: _Cold_

_“I love how cold and focused your eyes are….”_

But they weren’t always that way. Riza can remember it as if it were yesterday. The pain, the anguish, the horror at seeing exactly what his flame could do, his eyes echoed it all. It was because of that look that she couldn’t put an end to him and his horribly destructive power. She once told someone that she joined the military because there was someone she had to protect, but that wasn’t always true. In the beginning her motivations were much, much different.

It would have been so easy to pick him off in Ishval when she was assigned to watch over the city with sniper’s eyes. It’s part of the reason she became a guns expert in the first place. What better way to take down someone dangerous than to be capable of dropping them from afar? She just never dreamed he’d be in her target sights one day. But once she saw the utter destruction he could inflict with the snap of his fingers, destruction she was directly responsible for….

Then she saw his eyes and knew beyond a doubt he wasn’t the monster she thought he was. 

_“…there are worse ways to die than at the hands of a man like you.”_

A man like him. That bitch doesn’t have any clue what kind of a man he is. She makes it sound like he is some kind of a monster, like she is, but she couldn’t be further from the truth. The Colonel did what he had to. Nothing more, nothing less. Just like he always has. He has grown harder over the years, but not by his own choice. Even today he broke cover to save her and Kain when he should have remained safely out of reach. That bitch has no idea what kind of a man he is.

She pulls herself from Alphonse’s arms and runs to him as the Colonel’s knees buckle and he falls to the ground. Tears continue to streak down her face as she goes to her knees beside him and she sees the burns, the blood, the cut across his cheek and the array sliced into his flesh. She can’t imagine what he’s been through to even still be alive. He turns to look at her and in an instant he takes her breath away.

_“Are you alright?”_

Even now he thinks of her instead of himself. This is what that bitch could never understand. Yes, he can be hard and cruel and cold, but that’s not who he is. That’s what the world has made him be in order to survive. It’s a cold mask he wears, but it’s not what’s in his heart. The concern, the tenderness in his eyes as he looks at her say everything that words never could. No matter what he has to do to keep them safe this is who he really is. Even now, even after the war in Ishval and with monsters running around Central she can see that the idealistic young man she entrusted with the power of fire is still the same man.

_“Forget about me. We need to get you some help.”_

But even as she says the words it’s more than obvious his concern is not for himself. It rarely ever is. His heart is purely for Amestris and she knows he’ll die to protect this country without hesitation. That is why she’ll do anything to protect this man. That stupid monster may not have understood him at all, but she did get one thing right. She didn’t _deserve_ to die at his hands. Riza takes a breath as he closes his eyes in relief and promises herself she’ll never be weak again. No matter what she _will_ stand by his side until the very end.

A man like this deserves nothing less.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and concrit are always loved and appreciated. :-)


End file.
